Gadiel
Gadiel is an Unseelie Sidhe Wilder of House Balor in the Kingdom of Willows. Overview Early History Discovered hiding in Arcadia long after most of his house had been exiled, Gadiel of House Balor was thrust out into the mortal world... and stole the body of a 15-year-old computer wizard named Gerald Owens, resident of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Though he remembers nothing of Arcadia itself, he does recall being exiled and burns for revenge against the Seelie who cast him out. In their absence, he's more than happy to vent his frustrations on any Seelie who annoys him. A prince of House Balor, Gadiel found his new existence in which he was obeying parents too confining, so he murdered them. Reveling in their pain, he devoured the tainted Glamour they gave him through their deaths. Taking their cash, whatever valuables he could easily sell, and his computer equipment, he drove away in his father's car after setting fire to the banal ranch-style house with its two-car garage. Big cities don't have exclusive rights to drugs, crime, and corruption, and Gadiel found them in Oak Ridge. Using the money he made from the sale of his parents' jewelry and goods, he set himself up in a small apartment and made contact with Oak Ridge's (and later, Knoxville's) criminal community. Selling drugs, he was able to locate needy souls whom he twisted to his own ends. As they became ever more addicted, Gadiel feasted on the Glamour their dark dreams and helplessness produced. Growing Power Over time, he met other dissatisfied Kithain like himself. They listened enthusiastically as he spoke against the Seelie and their outdated rule. Gradually, he found himself at the center of a group of several commoners and a few nobles who looked to him to express their anti-Seelie feelings. Most of them had no idea of Gadiel's preference for taint and corruption; they simply responded to his eloquence and commitment to the cause known as Modernism. Gadiel's outspokenness attracted the attention of Count Oakleaf, Seelie ruler of the region. Oakleaf summoned Gadiel to attend him at his court. Gadiel did so. Dressing in the most sumptuous court garb he could muster, he sauntered into the count's freehold. Once there, he made an impassioned speech to the count concerning the nobles' responsibility to "lead" the commoners and listen to their grievances. The count seemed mollified. He even invited Gadiel to stay for a time and talk at length concerning his views. Gadiel used the time to discover that the count lived alone except for two servants. Having won the count's confidence, he attacked while the Seelie lord slept. Overpowering the count, Gadiel forced him through the trod attached to the freehold and carried him into the Dreaming. Having come more recently from Arcadia, Gadiel was more familiar with the Dreaming than the count. Taking the unfortunate Seelie into the Far Dreaming, Gadiel abandoned him there, retracing his steps to the freehold. Though he waited for weeks, the count never returned. Gadiel claimed the freehold as his own, renaming it Twisted Oak for the gnarled tree that guarded the approach to the entryway. He co-opted the count's servants and invited his cronies to pay court to him there. Thus, a motley of Unseelie gained control of the Oak Ridge area. The Children of Annihilation His group made contact with other like-minded Kithain among the Modernists and made their views known to the Parliament of Dreams. Gadiel was not content with this moderate approach to ridding the world of the hated Seelie. He tested his followers one by one to discover how far they were willing to go. Many surprised him with their commitment to overthrowing the Seelie. To this inner circle, Gadiel told his true intentions: to eradicate the Seelie and cleanse the world of their influence. To do so, he and his followers had to learn to wield Banality as the manifestation of modern Glamour. Calling themselves the Children of Annihilation, they even now search for a weapon they can use to destroy the Seelie forever. Meanwhile, those followers who could not stomach his more radical leanings continue as members of the Modernists. So far as they know, Gadiel remains a Modernist as well. The commoners in the area look to him as one of the few nobles who take the commoner side against other nobles. Both Modernist and Annihilist commoners bring dozens of commoner childlings to Gadiel at Twisted Oak each year so that he can train them. Those who entrust these young Kithain to him might be horrified at what he teaches them, especially that he takes promising childlings along when he kills someone who has crossed him. Should the childling balk at helping or talk about it afterward, the young changeling disappears, supposedly sent elsewhere for more compatible fostering. The dirt-floored cellar of Twisted Oak is pocked with the graves of such "unbiddable" children. Lord of Twisted Oak Through his criminal contacts in Knoxville, Gadiel has contacted Meilge and been granted the right to his freehold. Meilge ostensibly supports the Modernists, though in actuality, neither he nor Gadiel have any intention of sharing real power with commoners. Gadiel knows enough about Meilge to understand he should not share all of his plans with the king. Instead, he intends to keep most of his power secret until the time comes to claim the High Kingship for himself... in a world bereft of the Seelie and powered by Banality. Needless to say, Gadiel is mad by most people's standards. As his Balor deformity is homicidal mania, that isn't too surprising. What is scary is how sane he seems while committing the most heinous crimes. His most accomplished Arts are Dream-Craft, Chronos, and Soothsay. He is a dazzling apologist for the Unseelie viewpoint, and has an inherent understanding of the political implications of events. Personally appealing and charismatic, he excels in making others feel important and appearing to agree with their opinions. He is an excellent swordsman and has won many duels. Image Standing just a shade over 5'9" and of average weight, Gadiel's most attractive features are his large, dark-lashed, pale-blue eyes. Seeming to hold within them both intelligence and innocence, his incredible eyes are framed by shoulder-length brunette hair. his preference in clothes runs to trousers and tunics or courtly garb in deep purples. Personal Gadiel knows now why he's been returned to Earth; to lead the Unseelie to glorious victory over the hated Seelie. those Unseelie who came before him held too many scruples and too great a fear of banality. He must court Banality and find a weapon that will smash the Seelie forever. He doesn't believe that any Seelie part of him still exists; if it does, he will find a way to tear it out of himself just as he'll annihilate the weakling side of all the other Kithain. so he has to commit a few murders to accomplish his goal... we all have to make some sacrifices for a better tomorrow. References # CTD. Kingdom of Willows, pp. 120-121. Category:Unseelie (CTD) Category:Sidhe (CTD) Category:Wilders (CTD) Category:House Balor (CTD)